Unlike literacy and numeracy, too often spoken language skills (oracy) are left to chance rather than taught explicitly in our education system today. Voice 21 work with schools to change this, increasing access to high-quality oracy education for those that need it most. Since launching in 2015, Voice 21 have worked with over 2000 schools across the UK, helping more than a quarter of a million young people to find their voice for success in school and life. Today, over 450,000 children attend a Voice 21 Oracy School. By 2025, Voice 21 want to reach 800,000, as well as continue to build the case for an oracy rich curriculum.
The Fundraising team at Voice 21 is at an exciting time in its journey. Over the past 8 years, they have built and refined how they work with schools and have collated a strong evidence base for their impact. Together with the arrival of a new CEO, Dr Kate Paradine, who joined in October, this marks a real inflection point in their history and they need an exceptional Head of Fundraising to ensure Voice 21 can take oracy into every school across the UK.
About the role
As the Head of Fundraising, you will report directly to the CEO and will be responsible for overseeing high value fundraising income streams, with current funders including Impetus, Mohn Westlake Foundation and Allen & Overy. You will build on the success of the trust and foundation funding, but also develop major donor and corporate fundraising partnerships. In addition, you will also have the unique opportunity to build out the fundraising team, with an organisation committed to investing now for future potential and growth.
As Head of Fundraising, you will:
- Lead the annual fundraising planning process to produce effective strategies to achieve income targets across Major Donors, Trusts & Foundations and Corporate Partnerships
- Alongside the CEO, lead the development of a new Fundraising strategy, aligned with a new 5 year organisational strategy to launch in 2024
- Collaborate closely with cross-functional teams to help identify and subsequently develop captivating proposals and engagement opportunities
- Deliver best-in-class stewardship of partnerships, building yearly engagement plans and providing high quality proposals and reports
About you
Ideal skills and experience:
- An entrepreneurial and creative approach to fundraising, with expertise in two or more of trusts and foundations, corporate partnerships or major donors.
- Experience of managing large-scale pitches, including managing upwards and management of external stakeholders such as a Volunteer Fundraising Board or Trustees.
- Proven ability to effectively lead and manage a team, setting targets, managing workloads, appropriately managing poor performance and helping guide team member’s career development.
- Demonstrated ability to work collaboratively across teams and departments remotely/online using persuasion and influence to achieve shared goals and objectives.
Employee Benefits
Employee benefits include:
- 25 days annual leave plus bank holidays, plus additional Christmas closure period
- Additional annual leave with years of service
- Employer pension contribution of 5%
- Employee Assistance Programme, offering 24/7/365 support
- Interest-free season ticket
- Cycle and technology loans
